rip michael crichton

[brndck]

The gone-haywire theme parks of Jurassic Park and Westworld. The breakneck medical decisions of ER. The storm chasers of Twister.

All these and more came from the mind of Michael Crichton, the megaselling novelist and Hollywood titan, who died Tuesday of what was invariably described as a private battle against cancer. He was 66.

Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park inspired the blockbuster Steven Spielberg franchise. The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Sphere and the Jurassic Park sequel, The Lost World, were among other Crichton books that made the leap from the page to the big screen.

In a statement today, Spielberg remembered being a young TV director assigned to show the young Crichton around the Universal Pictures studio lot.

A friendship was born. As was an abiding admiration.

"Michael's talent out-scaled even his own dinosaurs of Jurassic Park," Spielberg said. "There is no one in the wings that will ever take his place."

On television, Crichton was the creator and an executive producer of ER, the long-running NBC hit, from Spielberg's Amblin Television, that launched George Clooney's star, and which is now in its 15th and final season. He shared in the show's 1996 Emmy win for Outstanding Drama Series.

Standing at just a touch under 7 feet, Crichton was as tall as his tales—tales that turned on science and technology and put his Harvard Medical School degree to use.

His breakthrough novel was The Andromeda Strain, published in 1969. Snapped up by Hollywood, the sci-fi plague thriller became the basis for the 1971 Robert Wise movie of the same name. Earlier this year, it was remade as an A&E miniseries.

In 1973, Crichton wrote and directed Westworld, which pitted hapless humans against theme-park robots gone bad. A hit, it spawned the 1976 sequel, Futureworld. A planned movie remake from writer Billy Ray (Flightplan) is currently in the works.

Crichton revisited the Westworld theme on his own with Jurassic Park, which pitted hapless humans against theme-park dinosaurs gone wild.

"I'm not an everyday writer," Crichton told Time in 1995, "and I never have been."

But he was a dedicated writer, producing more than two dozen novels and nonfiction books. He was also a publishing phenomenon and a fixture on Forbes' wealthiest-people lists.


Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park Author, Dead at 66 - E! Online

[mRclARK1]

At 6'9 he probably had other health things going on as well.

My cousin is 6'10ish (and built solid... not fat at all, just a BIG fucking guy) and he has to watch his heart closely with regular check ups etc. People just weren't meant to be that tall. haha

Good author. RIP.

[exitspeed]

RIP

Jurassic Park FTW!

[Pank]

augh, this sucks, he was literally my favorite author. i've read everything he's done, except for Airframe, mostly b/c i didnt want to sully his awesome record in my mind.

[qt_240]

w0w.. i loved all his novels ... talent that will be missed.. RIP!

[BustedS13]

weak. RIP sir.

[stiizy]

Originally Posted by exitspeed

RIP

Jurassic Park FTW!

This picture made me lol



But i have read his books and they were good RIP

[SHIFT_*grind*]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I grew up reading his books, and I still read them

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by stiizy

This picture made me lol

[brndck]

/\/\/\/\/\
roflrofl

[muddafakka]

How sad. RIP.

[ONYX S-13]

Originally Posted by exitspeed

rip

jurassic park ftw!

"ian freeze!"

[NiSmo240luvR]

i saw this on tv in the caf today. very sad. easily one of the best authors of our time. RIP.

[240Driver39]

damn, really enjoyed reading his books, rip

[zaquanh]

Originally Posted by exitspeed

RIP

Jurassic Park FTW!

in a still shot , shit looks so fake but im not guna lie , wen i watch the movies them damn dinosaurs look real

[fromxtor]

Dammit! How could I have missed this, he is the author that litteraly got me into reading novels. My first one was congo, then JP and the lost world. No other author has been able to suck me in like they talk about in the first never ending story. The sphere gave me the creeps so bad, I had to stop reading it for a few days.

[tattoo131313]

RIP






Westworld was the shiet.

[palmdale_mob]

Dang that sucks
Dude was a sick ass writer
RIP Michael Crichton

[theicecreamdan]

Jurassic Park was the first novel I ever read.

wow, brings back some memories

[SHIFT_*grind*]

Originally Posted by fromxtor

Dammit! How could I have missed this, he is the author that litteraly got me into reading novels.

Me too. I read Jurassic Park in 5th grade, then in some order I can't remember: Terminal Man, Lost World, Sphere, Congo, Airframe, Andromeda Strain, Timeline (actually I stopped halfway through, I think) and maybe a couple others. I think the only two I haven't read were Eaters of the Dead and The Great Train Robbery. More recently: State of Fear, Prey, and Next (which was pretty good).